U.S Auto Industry Recalls Declining

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American automakers are performing much better regarding vehicle safety recalls compared to their Japanese counterparts. Approaching the middle of 2011, there have been 59 recalls, potentially affecting 6.8 million cars and light trucks. In 2010 at this point in the year, there had been 65 recalls potentially affecting 9.6 million light vehicles.

Toyota, whose reputation has been smudged recently for recalling millions of cars and trucks linked to sticky accelerator pedals and ill-fitting floor mats, is still in the hot seat. So far, Toyota has racked up nine of the industry’s worst recall campaigns affecting more than 2.8 million vehicles. The issue continues as the company widened its recall for another 1.4 million units also affected by floor mats that threatened to shift and pin down accelerator pedals. Since 2009, Toyota has recalled 9.8 million vehicles and has paid 32.4 million in fines for not issuing the recalls sooner.

At current pace, auto makers are on track to bring in fewer cars and trucks into dealers for recall issues compared to 2010. In 2010, 17.2 million units required a recall making it one of the poorest performances in recent years. 2009 was also plagued with recall issues totaling 16.4 million.